Forem: Samandar Yusupov

I Automated Hiring Like a Pipeline — and Stopped Wasting Time on Screening

Samandar Yusupov — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:27:20 +0000

Initial candidate screening is the most soul-crushing part of hiring. If you're a tech lead or engineering manager, you know the ritual: the same "tell me about yourself" repeated ten times a week, and in eight out of ten cases, it's obvious within five minutes that the person isn't a fit.

I approached this as a pipeline optimization problem. If you have a repetitive process with predictable inputs and known filtering criteria — you automate it. Here's how I did it.

The Problem: Standard Questions Don't Generate Signal

Most screening questions are theater. Candidates prepare for them in advance, the answers are rehearsed, and you get a demo version of the person rather than the real thing.

You need questions that are harder to "solve" through preparation. Ideally — questions where there's no right answer, you can Google.

The Architecture of Questions That Generate Real Signal

Here are five types that give you genuine insight into soft skills:

Type 1: Projective Questions — Bypass the Defense Filter

The principle works like a side-channel attack on socially desirable behavior. Instead of directly asking "why are you leaving your current job", you ask about "other people":

"What might cause an employee to quit without notice?"
"Why do some people burn out quickly while others stay effective for years?"
"What holds people back from taking on more responsibility?"

The person unconsciously projects their own attitudes onto "others". You get their real motivations, not a scripted answer.

Type 2: Bipolar Questions — Test for Ability to Reason

"Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of an authoritarian management style"

This is a quick-check on the ability to think without bias. If someone can't find a single pro in the authoritarian style or a single con in remote work — they have problems with objective analysis. For technical roles where you need to weigh trade-offs, this is critical.

Type 3: Situational Questions — Evaluate Reasoning Under Ambiguity

"A key client is demanding a discount that would make the project unprofitable. What do you do?"

There's no right answer here — there's quality of reasoning. How does the person structure uncertainty? Do they go straight to management, or do they first look for room to maneuver? These are exactly the same skills needed when handling an incident or navigating a product discussion.

Type 4: Behavioral Questions (STAR) — Verify Real Experience

"Tell me about a time when you lacked the skills to solve a problem. How did you handle it?"

A strong engineer will say: "I didn't know X, I looked up Y, asked Z for help, and delivered N". A weak candidate will either fail to find such a case (red flag — doesn't acknowledge gaps) or will tell a story where everyone else is to blame.

Type 5: Comparative Questions — Reveal Real Values

"Who would you rather have on your team: a lone genius with 2× above-average output but toxic, or an average specialist who gets along perfectly with everyone?"

Important: there's no right answer. But the answer reveals cultural fit with your team. If your team is all seniors working independently — the answer is one thing. If you have lots of juniors who need mentorship — it's another.

Implementation: Telegram Bot as the First Stage of the Pipeline

The questions are the specification. Next comes the implementation.

I use @moreformbot — a Telegram bot that lets you create a conversational form right inside the messenger. The candidate answers questions in the chat, shares their contact with one tap, and you receive structured responses without ever getting on a call.

Workflow in 6 steps:

Init— create a new form in the bot

Click on “Create form” button to create a new form

Welcome screen — brief context: the role, what the form covers, how much time it takes

Click on “Add welcome page” or select welcome page by clicking plus button and selecting the “Welcome block” type

Configure it

Question pages — each question on a separate page, one after another

Select “Text” type

Configure it (Write questions from the post)

Contact capture— automated Telegram contact request as the final page

Click on plus button and select “Contact” type

Select “Telegram” subtype

Configure it

Success state — thank you message and expected response timeline

Select “Ending block” in plus select

Configure it

Share the form — Publish and share the form

Click on “Publish” button on top right corner of the form page, and confirm it by clicking it again in dialog

Copy the link and share it with interviewee

What this gives you in numbers: if you used to spend an hour on 10 calls to find 2 relevant candidates — now you spend 10 minutes reading 10 forms and call those two directly.

By the time a candidate's name lands in your inbox — they've already passed a psychological and situational "unit test". The call becomes final validation, not the primary filter.

That's pipeline thinking applied to hiring.

An HR Department for Zero Dollars: How Founders Can Hire for Culture Without Spending Time on Interviews

Samandar Yusupov — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Your startup has no HR manager. But it does have you, and you have twenty more important things to do than spend an hour on a call with a candidate who isn't the right fit.

The problem is that a bad hire into a small team is a disaster. One person with poor soft skills can destroy an atmosphere you spent months building. So screening is necessary — but it shouldn't cost you time.

The solution is simple: ask the right questions before the call, not during it.

Why Standard Questions Don't Work

"Tell me about yourself", "Why do you want to work here", "Where do you see yourself in five years?" — candidates prepare for these questions in advance. You get rehearsed answers, not a real picture of the person.

You need questions that are harder to prepare for. Questions that reveal values, not presentation skills.

5 Questions That Show You the Real Person

Question 1 — The Priorities Test (comparative)

"What's worse for you in a team: missing deadlines but delivering a perfect product — or delivering on time but with minor bugs?"

There's no right answer. But there's an answer compatible with how your team works. If your culture is "ship fast, fix later" — a toxic perfectionist will destroy the rhythm. If your product depends on reputation — "just get it out the door" will be a catastrophe.

Question 2 — The Objectivity Test (bipolar)

"Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of remote work"

If someone can't find any cons — they're either inexperienced or telling you what they think you want to hear. If they can't find any pros — they'll likely suffer on a remote team and drag others down with them. You need someone who sees reality without filters.

Question 3 — The Values Test (projective)

"What holds people back from taking on more responsibility at work?"

The question sounds like it's about "other people", but the person unconsciously answers about themselves. Those who cite fear of failure, bureaucracy, or lack of authority will show exactly that behavior. Those who say "people just aren't interested" are likely passive themselves. Those who answer "nothing, if there's trust" usually actually take initiative.

Question 4 — The Action Test (situational)

"A new employee has joined your department. How do you introduce yourself to them?"

A simple question, but it instantly separates people who act proactively from those who wait to be invited. In a small team, that difference is critical.

Question 5 — The Experience Test (behavioral, STAR)

"Tell me about a conflict with a colleague. How did you resolve it?"

Listen not just to the outcome — listen to how the person describes the situation. Do they take any responsibility? Or do they tell a story where they're always right, and everyone else is wrong? In a startup with no HR to mediate conflicts, people need to handle that themselves.

Automation: Let the Bot Do the First Round for You

The five questions above are your filter. Now you need candidates to answer them before you spend a single minute of your time.

The tool for this is the Telegram bot @moreformbot. It lets you create a screening form inside the messenger: the candidate answers questions in a conversational chat, and you receive structured responses plus their contact — no call needed.

No registrations, no complicated interface — just a Telegram form the candidate completes in 5 minutes.

How to set it up in 15 minutes:

Launch @moreformbot and create a new form

Click on “Create form” button to create a new form

Add a welcome screen — one or two sentences about the role and what comes next

Click on “Add welcome page” or select welcome page by clicking plus button and selecting the “Welcome block” type

Configure it

Create a separate page for each of the five questions

Select “Text” type

Configure it (Write questions from the post)

Add a page requesting the Telegram contact (the candidate shares it with one tap)

Click on plus button and select “Contact” type

Select “Telegram” subtype

Configure it

Close with a thank-you screen and a note on when they can expect to hear back

Select “Ending block” in plus select

Configure it

Publish and share the form

Click on “Publish” button on top right corner of the form page, and confirm it by clicking it again in dialog

Copy the link and share it with interviewee

What you get: instead of ten one-hour calls, ten completed forms with answers to the key questions. You read them at your convenience and only call the three people who already passed the first filter.

Hiring isn't about talking to everyone. It's about finding the right person quickly. The right questions upfront save you weeks.

Stop Hiring "Brilliant Jerks": 5 Soft Skills Assessment Strategies That Actually Work

Samandar Yusupov — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Professional competencies are a necessary, but not a sufficient condition. You can hire a brilliant developer or a top-performing sales manager and discover three months later that half the team has handed in their resignation letters. The reason: the person didn't fit the culture, turned out to be unpredictable, or simply didn't know how to work in a team with other people.

For HR professionals, the initial screening is, honestly, a tedious routine. Dozens of intro calls, and by the fifth minute, it's already clear: wrong person. But by that point, you've already spent an hour — yours and the candidate's.

The good news is that if you phrase your screening questions correctly upfront, you can filter out irrelevant candidates before the call even occurs. Here are five methods that let you extract the most information about soft skills with the fewest questions.

5 Methods for In-Depth Soft Skills Assessment

1. Behavioral Interview (STAR)

This method is built on the principle: past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. The question is framed so that the candidate describes a specific situation across four elements:

S (Situation) — a concrete situation from past experience
T (Task) — the challenge the candidate faced
A (Action) — the exact actions they took
R (Result) — the outcome it led to

Practical questions:

"Describe a situation where your task priorities shifted mid-process dramatically. What did you do?"
"Have you ever had a conflict with a colleague? How did you resolve it?"
"Tell me about a time when you lacked the skills to solve a problem. How did you handle it?"

Key indicator: does the candidate say "I" or "we"? Can they clearly separate their own role from the team's role?

2. Projective Questions

Direct questions about values and attitudes almost always get socially desirable answers — the candidate says what they think the interviewer wants to hear. The projective method bypasses this filter: the question is framed not about the candidate but about "other people", and the person unconsciously projects their own views onto others.

Practical questions:

"Why do some people stay effective at work for years, while others burn out quickly?"
"What might cause an employee to quit without notice?"
"What holds people back from taking on more responsibility?"

Don't listen for the "right answer" — there isn't one. Listen to what the person focuses on: external circumstances or personal choice, fear, or motivation.

3. Situational Questions

Unlike behavioral interviews, these don't draw on real experience — the candidate is given a hypothetical situation, and you assess how they think through it. Especially useful for juniors or when hiring for a role where direct experience may be absent.

Practical questions:

"A key client is demanding a discount that would make the project unprofitable. What do you do?"
"You've been moved to a new department where you don't know anyone. What's your first step?"
"A new employee has joined your department. How do you introduce yourself to them?"

The goal isn't to hear the "right" algorithm — it's to understand whether the person can structure their thinking under conditions of uncertainty.

4. Bipolar Questions

Asking for "3 pros and 3 cons" of something is a simple but effective way to assess critical thinking and objectivity. A person who has no critical perspective either hasn't thought seriously about the topic or is just saying what they think will please you.

Practical questions:

"Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of working at a startup"
"Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of remote work"
"Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of an authoritarian management style"

The last question is especially revealing. If a candidate can't find a single pro in the authoritarian style, that's a signal of low tolerance for ambiguity.

5. Comparative Questions

Instead of questions with a "right answer" — a choice between two equally uncomfortable options. This is where a candidate's real values and priorities show up, not the ones they claim to have.

Practical questions:

"What's worse for you: a team that missed a deadline but delivered a perfect product — or one that delivered on time but with minor bugs?"
"Who would you rather have on your team: a lone genius with 2× above-average output but toxic, or an average specialist who gets along perfectly with everyone?"
"What would you choose: hiding a colleague's critical mistake to preserve the relationship — or reporting it to management, risking team morale but saving the project?"

There's no right answer. There's an answer compatible with your culture — and one that isn't.

How to Automate Screening and Stop Wasting Time on Calls

The questions are ready. Now the challenge is getting answers before the call, not during it. For that, you need a tool that requires no registration from the candidate, creates minimal friction, and automatically collects contact details.

The Telegram bot @moreformbot solves all three: it lets you create a screening form right inside the messenger, the candidate answers the questions in a few minutes, and submits their contact with a single tap.

Setting up the form — 5 steps:

Create a new form in the bot
Click on “Create form” button to create a new form
Add a welcome screen — briefly explain the role and what happens next
Click on “Add welcome page” or select welcome page by clicking plus button and selecting the “Welcome block” type
Configure it
One question per page — each question on a separate screen
Select “Text” type

Configure it (Write questions from the post)

Request the Telegram contact — automatically, no manual input Click on plus button and select “Contact” type

Select “Telegram” subtype

Configure it

Completion screen — thank the candidate and outline the next steps Select “Ending block” in plus select

Configure it

Share the form — Publish and share the form Click on “Publish” button on top right corner of the form page, and confirm it by clicking it again in dialog

Copy the link and share it with interviewee

The result: instead of 100 intro calls, you receive 10 detailed profiles with answers to the most important soft skills questions — and you only call the people who've already passed the first filter.